Detective and mystery stories; England -- Fiction; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Nobility -- Fiction; Romanies -- Fiction
"It's in danger now. I'd strangle you for two pins. But I intend to send
you abroad since your evidence is dangerous to me. If you are out of the
way there's no one else can state that I shot Pine. Here's twenty pounds
in gold;" she thrust a canvas bag into the man's shaking hands; "get on
your coat and cap and I'll take you to the nearest seaport wherever that
is. My motor is on the verge of the wood. You must get on board some
ship and sail for the world's end. I'll send you more money when you
write. Come, come," she stamped, "sharp's the word."
"But--but--but--"
Miss Greeby lifted him off the sofa by the scruff of the neck. "Do you
want to be killed?" she said between her teeth, "there's no time to be
lost. Chaldea tells me that Lambert threatens to have me arrested."
The prospect of safety and prosperity in a distant land so appealed to
Silver that he regained his courage in a wonderfully short space of
time. Rising to his feet he hastily drained another glass of brandy and
the color came back to his wan cheeks. But for all the quantity he had
drank that same evening he was not in the least intoxicated. He was
about to rush out of the room to get his coat and cap when Miss Greeby
laid a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Is there any one else in the house?" she asked suspiciously.
Silver cast a glance towards the sofa. "There's no servant," he said in
a stronger voice. "I have been cooking and looking after myself since I
came here. But--but--but--"
"But what, you hound?" she shook him fiercely.
"Garvington's behind the sofa."
"Garvington!" Miss Greeby was on the spot in a moment pulling away the
concealing rugs and cushions. "Have you murdered him?" she demanded,
drawing a deep breath and looking at the senseless man.
"No, he's only stunned. I struck him with the poker because he wanted to
denounce me."
"Quite right." Miss Greeby patted the head of her accomplice as if he
were a child, "You're bolder than I thought. Go on; hurry up! Before
Garvington recovers his senses we'll be far enough away. Denounce me;
denounce him, will you?" she said, looking at Garvington while the
secretary slipped out of the room; "you do so at your own cost, my lord.
That forged letter won't tell in your favor. Ha!" she started to her
feet. "What's that! Who's here?"
She might well ask. There was a struggle going on in the passage, and
she heard cries for help. Miss Greeby flung open the sitting-room door,
and Silver, embracing Mother Cockleshell, tumbled at her feet. "She got
in by the door you left open," cried Silver breathlessly, "hold her or
we are lost; we'll never get away."
"No, you won't!" shouted the dishevelled old woman, producing a knife to
keep Miss Greeby at bay. "Chaldea came to the camp and I learned through
Kara how she'd brought you down, my Gentile lady. I went to tell the
golden rye, and he's on the way here with the village policeman. You're
done for."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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